Think George W. Bush struck a nerve this week?

The lamest duck of all was thousands of miles away from American soil, yet inserted himself into the presidential race in a big way.

A brief rundown:

• In Israel commemorating that great nation’s 60th anniversary, Bush says Democrats favor “appeasement” of terrorists, who he likens to Nazis.
• Barack Obama, though not mentioned by name, issues a statement rejecting Bush’s comments and saying they distort his views.
• John McCain blasts Obama’s comments in a speech to the NRA.
• Obama slams Bush again, saying the president “did something that presidents don’t do” and that “alienates us from the rest of the world.”
• Republicans say Democrats are overreacting; McCain criticizes Obama’s experience and questions his judgment.
• Obama blasts McCain for “embracing” Bush’s attacks.

Not bad for 48 hours!

After the war in Iraq and seven years of Bush foreign policy, his remarks in Israel on Thursday left the entire Democratic party fuming.

Their likely presidential candidate was quick to fire back in kind.

“After almost eight years, I did not think I could be surprised about anything that George Bush says, but I was wrong,” Obama said. “The president did something that presidents don’t do - launch a political attack targeted toward the domestic market in front of a foreign delegation.”

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After a brief layoff, fear-mongering is back in full effect!

President George W. Bush did not name Sen. Barack Obama by name, but it’s undeniable that his remarks today were aimed at the Democratic Party’s likely presidential candidate and others.

The thinly-veiled attack Thursday was made by Bush in Jerusalem, where he was marking the 60th anniversary of Israel’s sovereignty, but went so far as to suggest that Democrats actually favor the “appeasement” of terrorists.

NOTE #1: For some perspective, this is not only the least popular president in U.S. history talking, but a man who believes the best show of solidarity with troops sent to wage an unnecessary war is to quit golf.

“Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,” Bush said, speaking to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.

“As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

Doubts about Obama with Jewish Americans were stoked earlier this month by Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee-to-be in the 2008 race, who dubiously called Obama the “favored candidate” of Hamas.

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The more he opens his mouth, the clearer it becomes that John McCain’s views on global affairs are rather consistent with those of the great George W. Bush.

Much like Bush, McCain sees the world in oppositional terms - us vs. them, good vs. evil. He speaks of taking the lead “in fighting the transcendent issue of our time” - an unending, undefined crusade against “evil.”

Really, we could end this post right now. But we’ll continue.

During the Cold War, the new, central tenet of neo-conservatism emerged - that America is locked in a battle with evil. The U.S.S.R. was evil - but this hazardous way of framing any and all conflict has prevailed ever since.

Bush’s foreign policy - his refusal to think for more than five seconds about any situation or consider diplomacy, his outright dismissal of the United Nations, his increasingly aggressive nuclear posturing - is a function of this.

John McCain maintains the same outdated, epically disastrous world view, no matter how “maverick” or “independent” he fancies himself.

DON’T KID YOURSELF: George W. Bush and his aspiring successor, John McCain, share the same bellicose, inherently dangerous world views, no matter what “criticism” the latter supposedly has regarding the former’s policies.

Like many conservatives during and since the Cold War, Sen. McCain has embraced this “moral” attitude that the United States is a force defending all that is good, battling the forces of evil. As if it could possibly be that simple.

• He has morphed this into an laughably simplistic, strategic guidebook.

• He rejects negotiation and coexistence out of hand. Even if this means mass casualties, unending conflict and unstated goals.

• He confuses our enemies - Sunni Al-Qaeda with Shiite Iranian extremists - not because he’s old (well, maybe a little for that reason), but thanks to the narrow-minded ignorance that assumes evil is a single, uniform entity.

John McCain may lambast Donald Rumsfeld and nitpick Bush on foreign policy, but that’s all it is. The fundamental principles, or lack thereof, are essentially the same, and cannot be allowed to continue in such reckless fashion if our once-respected nation is to repair its relationships with the rest of the world.

In a world of ambiguity, marred by deep-rooted and rapidly-transforming threats such as terrorism, nuclear proliferation and, yes, global warming, such a dumbed-down, overly nationalistic approach will inevitably fail.

It has, and it will. Vote for this man at your peril.

Enraged Boston officials are gearing up for a legal assault against those responsible for a terrorist scare that shut down major roadways and subway lines for parts of Wednesday.

The three suspects, who may be members of Al Qaeda, appear at right. George W. Bush is considering holding them at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely without trial.

Authorities last night were retrieving 38 magnetic signs depicting the cartoon cast of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” - blinking ads that were placed under bridges, outside Fenway Park, on storefronts and other in locations.

They were installed as part of a Turner Broadcasting System marketing blitz for the show, but for much of the day, police treated the signs, which measure about 12 by 18 inches, and feature protruding wires on one side, as potentially dangerous.

The investigation shifted when they moved one of the signs into a darker area, which prompted the lights forming the character’s image to brighten into color. A brilliant Boston police analyst recognized it as a cartoon character and concluded it was likely a publicity stunt.

“This is a hoax - and it’s not funny,” said Gov. Deval Patrick, apparently under the impression that his landslide victory in November allows him to dictate what is funny and what isn’t.

Rumor has it that Sen. John Kerry initially voted to allow the ad campaign, later voted against it and now condemns it passionately. Sen. Hillary Clinton has commissioned a poll to gauge public opinion before stating her position.

The two men accused of placing the cartoon ads/bombs pleaded not guilty today in a courtroom packed with supporters and a crush of reporters. The Boston Herald wryly observes that they were paid only $300 apiece for the stunt, which will cost taxpayers nearly $1 million.

War of the Worlds, it wasn’t. But did local and state authorities jump the gun? Or should these characters (or the network) face punishment for this stunt after taking a funny idea too far in the post-September 11 world? Is the community just bent out of shape because the terrorist mastermind is flipping them off (see below)?

If anything, the Boston Globe notes, the ad campaign exposed the wide generation gap between jumpy government officials who reacted as if the signs were bombs and 20-somethings raised on hip advertising.

The ads were placed in 10 other cities over the past 2-3 weeks with no adverse consequences. Is Boston old and out of touch?